Sheet Metal Design and Unfolding with COPRA MetalBender Desktop

COPRA MetalBender Desktop allows a 100% parametric design of sheet metal parts. This is especially interesting, if you plan to derive a certain number of variants from your part. In the following section, we are showing an example explaining some major functions of CMB Desktop.
Definition of parameters
Compared to the ´conventional design process´ the preparatory work is a bit more if you decide to go for a parametric design. This is due to the fact that the user has to think about and to define the number of parameters he likes to work with later on.
In our example we are now defining the describing parameters we need for our sheet metal part. By the way:  the user may define these parameters afterward as well. Generating the basic plate
Usually a design starts with a basic plate, which might be a simple rectangle or a contour plate having punches or notches. COPRA MetalBender Desktop automatically provides you with the neccessary functions and generates a 3D model, taking into account the given values.
Addition of flanges
For a quick and easy design of sheet metal parts the user may select from so-called flange-features. Thus, you are able to define even complex shapes in an easy way. Follwing types of flanges are available:

standard flange (not rounded)
rounded flange
various Z-profiles
profile- and special shape flanges.

Of course every type of flange supports  production-specific restrictions - e.g.joined flange, inserted flange, relieve angles or distances. Every entry, e.g. height or angle can be defined either as fixed value or as a variable parameter. Using the flange menues, the user needs not to take care how to - e.g. - close corners. This job is done by one of COPRA MetalBender Desktops helpful functions.

The helpful function ´close corner´ finishes this example part.

The parameters entered in the table as ´variation 1´have just to be activated in Autodesk Mechanical Desktop and are automatically taken into account. The designers does not need to put hands on the designed part. He gets the new sheet metal part having the actual dimensions. Even the corner geometry is recalculated and accurately positioned.

(Dealer inquiries welcome !)

Profile section: U75/100/75 x 4mm
Forming steps: 0, 30, 60 and 90 degrees
Tooling diameters: bottom roll 180 mm; top roll 420 mm
Side rolls: 180 mm
Distance of forming passes: 450 mm
Machine: experimental rollforming mill

Following Illustration shows the strain values of the material resulting from the forming curves imposed by the roll tools. These values are - according to the latest technological developments - the reason of undesired deformations.

COPRA Deformation Technology Modul - using similar forming parameters (diameters for top- and side rolls, forming steps etc.) - will provide you with following results:

Of special interest is the almost identical quality of the strain course. Even the numerical results are within the same range as the curves obtained by the strain gauge experiments. Of course - it cannot be stated with upmost certainty, whether the values will behave in the same way also with complex shapes. However, our customer´s feedback has proved in many cases that COPRA DTM is able to increase your products quality. COPRA DTM provides you with these excellent results within a short computing time. Above shown example takes just a few seconds on a standard Pentium processor.

By the way:
No commercial software on the market is able to provide you within reasonable computing time with such results. The known strip edge strain calculation methods will fail. This is because they are not able to take into account parameters like the intermediate curvature of the deformation geometry (not only strip edges!) or tool diameters (e.g. side rolls!) in order to calculate the real forming shape in the rollforming process.